Sunday, March 18, 2012
What's your favorite story?
After coming to the end of Flannery O'Connor's collection of short stories, I could not help but think which is the best? I suppose this is more a personal opinion than literary discussion question, but I still think it is important to examine because the question at hand is which story was most effective? For me, when I finished Good Country People, I had an "ah ha" moment where I felt like all the previous stories seemed to click into place. The themes and motifs O'Connor had alluded to were fully flushed out and the dark tragic comedy was perfectly placed and moved the story forward instead of detracting. I think O'Connor did a masterful job of weaving in, without seeming obvious, the important themes of religion, socio-economic classes, education, gender and the tension between city and country. In only a few dozen pages, O'Connor was able to resurrect not one or two but four complicated, intriguing and authentic characters. The stylistic choices of using flashbacks in time, humor, meaningful names and dialogue made the story come alive. Although I think this is a cohesive collection, I think Good Country People could stand on its own as a representation of the essentials of A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories. The one important aspect of the collection that this story is missing is the subject of racism and racial tensions which can obviously not be ignored as it is a defining part of the rural South. Mrs. Hopewell's comment "Lord,... he bored me to death but I just couldn't be rude to him. He was just good country people... just the salt of the earth" (193) is just one example of the many poignant lines throughout the story that seem to stick with you and really get O'Connor's points across. Anyhow, do you agree that this was the most effective or favorite of your stories? Respond with your favorite and why or if you agree with me please add to the evidence.
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My favorite story was actually The River, but it didn't become my favorite until after I read the others. What I really like about The River is that it's different. I saw A Good Man is Hard to Find, The Life You Save May Be Your Own, and Good Country People to be very similar stories about perpetrators and pretty naive victims. There are so similar, in fact, that I get them confused together all the time. The Artificial N****** kind of annoyed me because, when I read it, it kind of had the same message as the others in a different context. This time, the perpetrator is the city or the New South, so Mr. Head and Nelson leave and vow to not go back. The Displaced Person was similar to the first three except this time, the victim is even more likable than the previous victims. And I simply can't call A Stroke of Good Fortune my favorite because Ruby is perhaps the most aggravating character of all time. What I liked about The River is that it is not a story of perpetrators versus victims. Bevel/Harry finds himself caught between two worlds, one of mortal sin and one of righteousness, and he has to make a decision. Does he choose the path of the perpetrators or the path of the naive? Well, he dies trying, which is really interesting because it kind of says there isn't room for a third party. You're either one or the other or you end up drowning.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the entire book, but I did not enjoy each individual story. They rampant racism and shallow, crude, evil characters made me sick and while reading and wrapped up in the individual worlds I was disgusted. However, the book as a whole was well written and digging deeper for analysis on my essay, I am beginning to more fully realize the intent of the stories and they are taking on new meaning. I, like Nellie, had several 'ahha' moments within the stories as Flannery's more obvious points clicked into place, but wrapped in the story was not at all a comfortable place for me and I found myself wading, disgusted, through the characters painful inner monologues and cruel acts, however symbolic I found them to be.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Peter, I found A Good Man is Hard to Find, The Life You Save May Be Your Own, and Good Country People to be very similar stories, and the River interesting because it was different. But I actually enjoyed the Artificial N***** the most. There are a couple of reasons: while some people, like Maddy, dislike the rampant racism and crude characters, this had only been alluded to and slightly covered up in other stories. In the Artificial N*****, especially as illustrated by the title, Flannery lets loose all the plugs and outright states the racist views of a white person in the south. To me this change was refreshing and attention grabbing, and it stood out from all the rest.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed The River the most.The River shows the good in people more than the other stories. I don’t think anyone in this story was out to get someone else or to trick him or her into getting a reward. This story unlike the others did not focus on the self-interest and self-gain that is part of human nature. Mrs. Connin truly thinks she is aiding Harry/Bevel when she takes him to get baptized. The Preacher seems to (in my opinion) truly want to help his followers and Mr. Paradise truly thinks he is coning everyone. When Bevel goes to the river he is searching for acceptance and for the feeling of “counting.” I don’t believe he wanted to die, but he was searching for the same feeling he had while getting baptized. The final piece of this story has Mr. Paradise, the man everyone thinks is a genuinely bad man, trying to save Bevel. This story seems to focus more on the redeeming values of man rather than the self-interest and search for gain that the other stories seem to portray.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of the people above that The River was my favorite story. I enjoyed it because it showed a variety of perspectives of religion. Mrs. Connin believes that the preacher is almighty and will cure Bevel for good. The preacher believes that God is almighty and that one must be in touch with God to be truly healed. And then Bevel is not sure what he believes but what he cherishes is feeling a part of something. He uses religion as a way to hold onto life and feel like he "counts". In this short story, O'Connor displays the many different ways that people interpret and use religion. People use it for selfish and ignorant reasons but also some people use it to simply belong. The River is an entertaining story and it give a lot of perspectives that are interesting to compare.
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DeleteNICE, JO. I, too, think that The Artificial Nigger stood out among all the stories. I chose to write my essay on the references O'Connor makes to The Divine Comedy, which I found particularly compelling. The parallel in the beginning sets up each reference by stating that Mr. Head "might have been Vergil summoned in the middle of the night to go to Dante” (104)." The Divine Comedy written by Dante, is about Dante's journey to God as he is lead through the inferno, purgatory, and heaven, by the poet Vergil. In addition, O'Connor uses references to Dante's imagery in The Divine Comedy: for example, when Mr. Head pulls Nelson's head to a sewer entrance and Nelson compares it to an entrance to hell, this is similar to when Vergil guides Dante through the inferno. Also, Mr. Head and Nelson begin to travel in circles, parallel to when Vergil and Dante travel through the nine circles of hell. Each reference, along with the story's fascinating depiction of human nature, and how it alters on one's journey to God (again, like Dante in The Divine Comedy), shows O'Connor at her best.
ReplyDeleteI accidentally clicked "southerlit.blogspot.com" and forgot the 2012 and I just want to say that our comments and blog posts are a lot better than theirs... ANYWAY. Maddy, I agree that there is racism left and right in The Artificial Nigger but the shock factor of the story is used to prove a point about how society was back then. This story is full of pure honesty and I think an unscensored story such as this was necessary. The content made it stand out among the stories surrounding it that, although they were all heartbreaking, were less representative of the malice of society at that time.
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